"Your Majesty, everything is ready. The Bloodsworn Royal Guard and all the division units are in position!" Bins reported to Rosinante.

"Then let's begin," Rosinante said calmly.

"Yes, sir!" Bins saluted and left swiftly.

The first to move was the Bloodsworn Royal Guard.

Now numbering over five hundred elite warriors, this unit was forged from the best of the best within the Gray Kingdom. Many of them had been handpicked from various divisions for their outstanding combat prowess—each at least at the level of a Marine Major. Equipped with specialized shell-based weapons, subjected to the harshest military training, and empowered by Rosinante's own healing seals, this force was destined to be one of the most formidable on the seas.

Each member of the Bloodsworn Royal Guard was armed with a "Rank Shell Sniper Rifle"—a weapon capable of long-range assassination and, when equipped with linked ammo, functioned as a machine gun. Its destructive power even surpassed that of modern heavy-caliber gatling guns!

Strapped to their waists were a shock shell handgun and a combat saber—standard-issue gear for the Bloodsworn.

At this moment, they had their sniper rifles pointed at small mirrors placed before them.

Bins had prepared extensively for this moment.

In fact, the Navy had misunderstood everything—the one who had infiltrated Marineford and left the letter wasn't Bins. It was Rosinante himself.

Though Bins could open space wormholes over long distances, he needed a stable spatial anchor to do so. And he had no such coordinates within Marineford. That meant he couldn't directly open a wormhole to Marine HQ.

So, Rosinante had personally flown to Marineford.

There, he released the natural restrictions on his body, entering a profound state of emptiness—a condition of total silence and invisibility. With this perfect stealth, he infiltrated the heavily guarded headquarters and placed the letter directly on Fleet Admiral Kong's desk.

At his current strength, Rosinante had already stepped into Admiral-class territory. Once he activated this "void state," his Devil Fruit abilities would surge dramatically. His entire body would become undetectable—not even a whisper of breath or trace of life remained.

Even in Marineford, teeming with high-level experts like Sengoku, Garp, and Kong himself—none sensed his presence.

While they were aware of Rosinante's impressive stealth capabilities, none of them believed he could stroll undetected into the heart of Marineford, let alone the Fleet Admiral's office—the inner sanctum of military secrecy.

Once the Navy learned of Bins' existence and his spatial powers, they naturally assumed that he was the only one capable of such a feat. This misconception further deepened their fear of Bins' wormhole ability.

And after the battle of Ohara, Akainu and the others assumed that Rosinante had been seriously injured and would need time to recover. No one expected him to take action so soon.

But during his infiltration, Rosinante had also discreetly planted several special stones infused with Bins' spatial signature. These acted as anchors for Bins to open long-distance portals directly into Marineford.

This is what led to the infamous bomb attacks that destroyed several dormitories within the Navy's headquarters.

After the Marines lifted their state of full alert, Bins resumed opening small wormholes throughout the base, setting up spatial coordinates all over Marineford to prepare for what came next.

When Rosinante said he was giving the Navy a "grand gift," he wasn't just being dramatic.

Originally, his plan had been to assassinate a few Vice Admirals. But as the World Government continued to twist the facts of the Ohara incident, vilifying him more and more in the eyes of the world, Rosinante realized that wouldn't be enough.

He still had to return to the Blue Sea one day. And his Gray Kingdom followed a suzerain-vassal model. If his name became too infamous, it would severely undermine his future authority and expansion.

So, he decided on a bold new course of action—make a statement so powerful that the World Government would think twice before defaming him again.

Of course, the most effective move would be to assassinate a few Celestial Dragons. That would silence the government immediately.

But that would also mean crossing the ultimate line—declaring all-out war on the Celestial Dragons themselves. If he chose that path, he would have to be prepared for a brutal, never-ending blood feud with the ruling powers of the world.

Rosinante knew he wasn't ready for that level of confrontation… not yet.

So, he chose a different target—the Navy.

If he could make the Navy feel pain, if he could display a fraction of his true strength, the World Government would start to tread more carefully.

That was Rosinante's real goal.

He also knew that the moment after delivering the letter would be the Navy's most vigilant period. Attacking at that time might yield results—but the risk would be astronomical.

Though Bins could snipe from long range using his wormholes, Marineford was still crawling with elite officers. Rosinante wanted to minimize casualties on his side.

That's why he waited until now, when the base's full alert had been downgraded to standard patrol protocols.

Still, all the key areas remained under surveillance. Elite officers were watching from the shadows. Secret patrols were being conducted under strict orders.

Colonel Kinder was one such officer.

He had been with the Navy for over a decade. Among headquarters colonels, his strength was average—neither elite nor weak. His current mission was to secretly patrol the base under the Navy's "relaxed on the surface, tight within" strategy.

Truthfully, Kinder didn't understand why the high command was so wary of a single pirate crew.

Even if they were powerful, this was Marineford!

The fortress of justice! The mightiest naval base on the seas! Backed by the full power of the World Government! Even the Whitebeard Pirates wouldn't make them tremble like this.

Still, an order was an order. The Navy had trained him to obey without question—especially commands coming from the Fleet Admiral himself, and executed by an Admiral like Sengoku.

As Kinder scanned his surroundings warily, he failed to notice the tiny black vortex that had appeared just behind his head.

PFFT—

A faint gunshot echoed through the corridor.

A high-speed bullet pierced through Kinder's skull before he could even register the sound.

In his final moments, his mind was filled with disbelief. He had been vigilant. He had scanned every direction. So how had a bullet reached him from behind?

Why hadn't he seen it coming?

Then it struck him.

His superior had warned him—the enemy could open space wormholes and snipe through them. He had been told this. He remembered.

But after so many days of peace, he had gradually lowered his guard.

And the price of that mistake… was death.

At the same time, across various parts of Marineford, the same faint pfft of silenced gunfire echoed.

Marine officers tasked with security fell into pools of blood.

Even Major-level officers were among the dead.

These were battle-hardened warriors—equivalent to Vice Admirals at branch bases.

But they too died in stunned disbelief.

In the Navy, only foot soldiers relied on guns. Once someone reached a certain level of strength, firearms became little more than decoration.

Why?

Because in this world, guns were weak. Anyone with decent skill could dodge a bullet, and even if hit, a strong enough body could shrug off the damage—unless it struck a vital point.

Of course, there were legendary firearms crafted by master gunsmiths that could kill even the strongest warriors—but such weapons were rare and astronomically expensive.

So in this world, guns were seen as second-rate weapons—relegated to background props. Only top-tier snipers wielding these rare guns posed any real threat.

And yet… it was those very guns they had always looked down on that ended their lives.

"Your Majesty," Bins' voice echoed from a wormhole that opened before Rosinante. "The guards around Marineford's primary weapons depot have all been eliminated."

"Notify the First Division," Rosinante said with a chilling calm. "Commence the operation."

"Yes, sir," Bins replied.

----

Note: Colonel Kinders is a marine soldier assumed in this AU